Fayyaz Ahmed / EPA
Bomb attack on a train in Quetta, Pakistan
Images in Quetta, in southwestern Pakistan, show a train carriage completely destroyed and toppled over. More than 100 injured.
At least 29 people died and 102 were injured today in a bomb attack against a train in Quetta, in the southwest of Pakistan, according to police sources.
Images from the scene show a train carriage completely destroyed e fallen, as people sorted through the wreckage in search for survivors, reports France Presse, which says it is a train that transported soldiers and their families from Quetta to Peshawar.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, with Quetta being the capital. It lags behind the rest of the country in several indicators, including education, employment and economic development.
Baloch separatists accuse the Pakistani government of exploiting natural gas and the abundant mineral wealth of the province without sharing the benefits with the local population.
Os baluchis sit down wronged in his province, where 70% of the inhabitants are poor while the subsoil is rich in minerals and hydrocarbons, exploited mainly by Chinese companies.
Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, “strongly” condemns this attack: “Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan. We remain steadfast in our resolve to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Sharif wrote in the .
New round on the war
This attack came on the day that Pakistan, mediator of the conflict between Iran and the United States, said it hopes to host a new round of peace negotiations between representatives of the two countries “very soon”.
Pakistani Prime Minister: “Pakistan will continue its peace efforts with utmost sincerity and we hope to host the next round of negotiations very soon.”
A first round of negotiations, which proved fruitless, was held in Islamabad on April 11 between US Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials, including the influential speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
